


The Bizarre Case of the Riddle House

by poiregourmande



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Muggle!Ryan, Wizard!Shane, Wizarding World (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 10:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17041829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poiregourmande/pseuds/poiregourmande
Summary: “This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we investigate the bizarre case of the aptly named Riddle House In Little Hangleton, Britain.”Now, had Ryan glanced at Shane instead of looking steadfastly at the camera, he would have noticed a quite uncharacteristic reaction from his cohost. Rather than affecting his usual polite curiosity, or completely dissociating, Shane seemed positively distressed at the mention of the name.





	The Bizarre Case of the Riddle House

“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we investigate the bizarre case of the aptly named Riddle House In Little Hangleton, Britain.”  
  
Now, had Ryan glanced at Shane instead of looking steadfastly at the camera, he would have noticed a quite uncharacteristic reaction from his cohost. Rather than affecting his usual polite curiosity, or completely dissociating, Shane seemed positively distressed at the mention of the name.   
  
Outside of the show, Shane tends to stay away from cold cases and crime stories – he prefers to be a blank slate for Ryan to impress his stories on. He rarely has an opinion on cases before shooting the episodes – in fact, he’s rarely ever heard about them before.   
  
Now, however, it’s obvious to anyone watching – TJ – that Shane knows the case and would rather talk about anything else.   
  
“The Riddle House was home to the Riddle family: Thomas, Mary, and their only son Tom. In the summer of 1943, all three of them died in mysterious circumstances, on the same night, in the house.”   
  
“Mysterious circumstances?” Shane asks, voice strangled like he’s forcing himself to answer.   
  
“All the doors and windows were locked from the inside, there was no sign of struggle or break-in, and the coroner report read that all three of them were, quote, perfectly healthy, outside of the fact that they were dead, unquote.”   
  
Ryan turns to Shane, obviously expecting some kind of reaction, but Shane only nods.   
  
“That’s it?” Ryan exclaims. “Shane, were you listening?”   
  
“Perfectly healthy, but dead, yeah.” Shane refuses to meet Ryan’s eye, and looks like he would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.   
  
“You don’t seem surprised by that – Shane, did you already know about this case?”   
  
Shane heaves a long sigh, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes wearily.   
  
“Teej, can we take five?”   
  
TJ exits the studio without further inquiry and Shane gives silent thanks to his professional, no-nonsense attitude.   
  
Shane inhales deeply, hands steepled before him on the desk. How do you share a lifelong secret with your closest friend without them feeling betrayed? Where should you start?   
  
“Yes, I do know about the case. In fact, I know who did it, how, why, and probably the answer to any further question you might have in that folder.”   
  
Shane stops to look at Ryan, seeing the gears turning behind his wide eyed. Shane knows Ryan’s brain is probably leafing through theories right now. _Serial killer. Immortal. Spy?_   
  
Shane could launch through a long-winded explanation of Lord Voldemort and the Killing Curse – the story every witch and wizard learns in History of Magic – but Ryan, believer as he may be, would probably draw the line at magic wands and curses.   
  
Seeing is believing, as they say.   
  
Shane reaches under his shirt to pull out his wand. He barely uses it outside of home, but he feels naked when he doesn’t carry it.   
  
Ryan stares, scared and doubtful.   
  
Shane reaches for his empty tea mug. “ _Aguamenti_!” he intones, filling the cup to the brim with fresh water from his wand.   
  
“ _Orchideous_!” he continues, and a gorgeous bouquet of red roses springs out from the tip of his wand. Cheeks flushed, he hands it to Ryan. “Magic,” he says with a guilty smile.   
  
“Wh –“ Ryan shakes his head in disbelief. “ _What_?”   
  
“I’m a wizard. Magic powers and all that jazz.”   
  
“ _What_?”   
  
“ _Wingardium Leviosa_!” Shane makes the little Bigfoot figurine fly off the desk in a whimsical aerial ballet.   
  
“What the fuck?”   
  
“My mom’s a witch, dad’s a Muggle. Non-magical folks,” he adds helpfully.   
  
“Why?” Ryan says, like he can’t pinpoint exactly what he wants to ask but is in dire need of explanations. “Why did you keep this a secret? Why are you telling me now?” Comprehension dawns on his face. “The Riddles?”   
  
“Killed by Lord Voldemort, an infamous dark wizard. The Killing Curse doesn’t leave any marks. He probably Apparated – um, like, teleported – in and out of the house and that’s why there was no sign of breaking in.”   
  
Ryan fiddles with the roses, taking it all in. The contrast between the lovely bouquet and the dark subject matter paints quite the macabre tableau, one that Shane’s artistic sensibilities would appreciate weren’t he not stuck in the emotional hurricane of revealing his deepest secret to his best friend.   
  
“So it’s not a cold case?” Ryan speaks quietly, directing his attention to concrete matters, like the folder full of useless research before him, rather than the ungraspable fact that magic exists.   
  
Shane shakes his head apologetically. “Most of them aren’t.”   
  
Ryan looks crestfallen. He thumbs through his folder – his entire life work, unravelled in four little words.   
  
“Some of them are!” Shane reassures him hurriedly, squeezing his shoulder gingerly. “But most of the time, when nobody followed a very obvious lead, or when evidence disappeared... wizarding authorities at play.”   
  
“Fuck,” Ryan exhales, sounding very far away.   
  
“On the bright side, that means the culprits were apprehended?” Shane supplies.   
  
Ryan gives a tiny smile. “Yeah, I guess. Why haven’t you ever said a thing?”   
  
“International Statute of Secrecy. We must keep the wizarding world hidden from muggles to avoid, well, witch hunts and the likes.”   
  
“Does this mean you and your mom are keeping it a secret from your dad?”   
  
“Oh no, don’t worry – the law makes exceptions for partners and close families.”   
  
“So why are you telling me – oh god are you gonna do all Men in Black on me and wipe my memory?”   
  
Shane instinctively reaches for Ryan’s hand to reassure him. “Oh no, absolutely not, I – I’m glad you know.”   
  
“But it’s illegal.”   
  
“It doesn’t have to be.”   
  
Blood rushes to Shane’s cheek as both their gazes fall to the red roses on the table. Opalescent swirls lazily come out of Shane’s wand of its own volition and Ryan’s stares, transfixed. His hand twitches on the table like he wants to reach out.   
  
“You know, I think this is the weirdest way anyone’s ever asked me out.”   
  
“Wasn’t there a girl in a Sonic the Hedgehog costume?”   
  
“Dude, you make magic.”   
  
“Yeah.”   
  
“Ghosts!” Ryan cries out – an altogether not uncharacteristic exclamation for him, although it does seem out of place within the current discussion.   
  
“Sorry?”   
  
“Are ghosts real?” Ryan’s eyes sparkle with excitement.   
  
Shane quirks an unimpressed eyebrow. “I ask you out and that’s all you have to say?”   
  
Ryan rolls his eyes. “Of course I wanna go out with you, that’s a given. Tell me if ghosts are real.”   
  
Shane lets out a weary sigh, tugging a hand through his hair. “Ghosts are real. But you’ll never see one – and we’ve never set foot in a haunted location.”   
  
Ryan goes on an arduous face journey as Shane speaks, and ends up looking so utterly devastated, Shane has no choice but to explain.   
  
“Muggles can’t see ghosts – they can’t turn into one either. And we’ve only been to Muggle dwellings, so...” he shrugs half-heartedly.   
  
“And you played the skeptic all this time?! Are you kidding me?”   
  
“Statute of Secrecy?” Shane offers in a mollifying voice.   
  
“Statute of Secrecy my ass! How could you look me in the eyes and say it was _the wind_ when you knew perfectly well ghosts are real?”   
  
“It _was_ the wind, I told you!”   
  
Ryan gets up to pace around the set, unable to look at Shane any longer. “Do you realize you took my entire life work and made it useless, in like, five minutes?”   
  
Shane nods, wringing his hands. “I – that wasn’t my intention, I... I was so caught up in my secret I never stopped to consider how it would affect you.”   
  
Ryan still paces, but the hard line of his shoulders softens a bit. “Sorry,” he says. “I’m glad you told me – honored, really. It mustn’t have been easy and – and I’m sorry I made this about me.”   
  
“For what it’s worth, I’ve always been so invested in the show regardless.”   
  
“Really?”   
  
“Who cares about the truth when Ryan Bergara whips out the theory voice?”   
  
Ryan flushes. “ _That being said_ , exactly when are you gonna kiss me?”   
  
Shane is at his side in two strides. He wraps his arms around Ryan like he’s so often dreamed of, hands splayed widely across his back, and leans down to meet his lips. It’s everything he’s hoped for and more,  and if his wand wasn’t back on the desk, it would probably erupt in golden sparks from Shane’s bliss.   
  
Ryan breaks the kiss. “Wow. That was _magical_.”   
  
“Oh god, shut up!”   
  
“Make me.”   
  
Shane debates on using a Silencing Charm, but ultimately decides that using his mouth would be much more enjoyable.   
  
At least until TJ walks back in, mumbling that they took a long enough break already, and what’s that stick on the desk?   
  
Now, Shane doesn’t make a habit of Obliviating his coworkers, but some things just can’t be helped.   



End file.
